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Op-Ed: The Walk Not Taken by Tobin Brinker

Last month, thousands of seniors graduated throughout the Inland Empire. Prior to graduation, there was much anxiety as the courts first decided to allow students who had failed the California High School Exit Exam to graduate, then a higher court reversed the decision.

The community was up in arms about the idea of letting students graduate with a diploma when they couldn't pass the exit exam. However, the real problem that the community needs to focus on is not that too many young people are allowed to graduate but that too few are graduating.

Recent articles about San Bernardino schools having the worst graduation rate of any large district in the nation should have stirred community outrage. According to a Manhattan Institute study, only 40 percent of freshmen in San Bernardino schools go on to graduate four years later.

Recently, a Newsweek cover story, "Dropout Nation," discussed the high school dropout crisis, and Oprah Winfrey aired a two-part special on the problem. Bill Gates, through the Gates Foundation, is also leading the charge to resolve the problem.

But why haven't local school districts taken up this issue? Since district funding is based on daily attendance, districts should be fighting to keep every child in school. Furthermore, since schools' sole purpose is to educate our youths, shouldn't they be defending every child's right to an education? Unfortunately, for the dropouts that is not the case.

Skewed Rewards

First, the No Child Left Behind Act does not reward districts for keeping children in school. If thousands of low-performing students were brought back to our schools, even more schools could fail to meet federal standards and face sanctions.

Second, many local districts suffer from overcrowding already. If thousands of dropouts were returned to our schools, where would we house them?

Third, instead of increasing district revenues, many believe that dropouts would actually cost the districts millions of dollars because dropouts need special remedial help. Also, they often exhibit antisocial and disruptive behavior that requires costly safeguards. Many are poor and transient; therefore, any money invested in these children could walk out the door when they move again.

Unfortunately for these children and our communities, this shortsighted attitude is wrong and can be debunked by a cost-benefit analysis. The current cost of 12 years of public schooling is about $84,000 per student (about $7,000 annually).

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the difference in lifetime earnings for a high school graduate compared with a non-graduate is about $300,000. A 2003 report ("Let's end truancy") by San Bernardino County District Attorney Mike Ramos noted that students who drop out are 2.5 times more likely to need public assistance programs. Dropouts are also more likely to be incarcerated. On the other hand, those who graduate are more likely to pay taxes and be productive, law-abiding citizens.

Beyond Slogans

Could San Bernardino's rising crime problem be associated with its failure to graduate so many children?

We must work together to address this issue now. It will take a concerted effort by the City Council, school board, businesses, PTAs, parents, students and the media.

No Child Left Behind must become more than a political slogan; it must be our mantra. We must be the voice for these forgotten children. If we do not take action on this matter soon, our graduations will become empty exercises of false praise, a delusion of success in the face of overwhelming failure.

Tobin Brinker is a middle-school teacher in the Rialto Unified School District and former Colton School Board member.

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